The examples discussed below relate generally to medical fluid delivery. More particularly, the examples relate to systems, methods and apparatuses for the cleaning of blood filters, such as dialyzers or hemofilters.
Many current dialyzers are not reused, they are instead discarded after a single use. In the event that dialyzers are reused, they are most often flushed with copious amounts of water, and/or very strong chemicals to remove residual biological fluids and disinfect the membrane. Dialyzers can alternatively be disinfected with heat, eliminating the need for chemicals but still requiring water. Dialysis systems also require that excess biological residuals be removed from the dialyzer periodically. For ecological and cost reasons, and especially for systems used in the home and for travel, it is desirable to minimize the amount of water used for such cleaning and disinfecting.
An improved blood filter cleaning and disinfecting system and method are needed accordingly.